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A lot of facilities (some are huge!) exist to satisfy the essential needs of a city.
Heating, lighting, public water treatment and supply, the collection and treatment of waste and wastewater, street cleaning, transportation of people and goods: the larger a city, the more complex its organisation is.
The city above and under ground
It takes a lot of knowledge and expertise to supply drinking water to households or industries according to strict standards, and to treat their wastewater.
A city can consume millions of cubic meters of water per day. It's a real challenge to develop the right equipment to treat, store and supply potable water, then to collect and treat all wastewater before it is discharged into rivers.
A city produces a lot of waste every day. The consequences for our health are obvious. What would happen if waste were not collected?
For the sake of hygiene and health in the city, we have to collect all kinds of waste, bring it to treatment and recycling centres. Our streets and pavements also have to be cleaned, but also our stations, malls, commercial, business centres, factories and offices. It's very much like your own house!
These varied activities need to be well organized.
Within the city people move all the time. Streets (small or large) canals, bridges, rails, bus or cycle lanes, cities must come up with new ways to meet people's needs while respecting the environment.
The same issues crop up everywhere in the world: how can we reduce traffic congestion and improve air and quality of life while transporting more and more people.
What a challenge! Streets must be adapted, tunnels or bridges built, and new public transport facilities created!
Households, businesses and all city services need huge amounts of energy. When developing our facilities -many are already really big- we have to make sure that they satisfy our growing needs while preserving natural resources and reducing emissions into the atmosphere, such as greenhouse gases.
What do people do if they live in city suburbs without such services?
